Chobani’s controversial ads spark Greek yogurt war with Dannon, Yoplait

All Chobani products – including Chobani® Greek Yogurt, Chobani “Flip”™ and Chobani Simply 100®- are kosher certified, contain five live and active cultures, and are made with milk from cows not treated with rBST*, with most of its products offering an excellent source of protein.

Chobani’s Simply 100 advertising campaign also takes aim at General Mills-owned yoghurt brand Yoplait. The TV spots aired on January 6th and featured a woman tossing aside low calorie Greek yogurt products from Dannon and Yoplait, opting for Chobani Simple 100 instead.

While it is hard to keep track of which yogurt maker has the latest lawsuit fermenting in court, one thing is certain: Chobani is not backing down from speaking out about its rivals’ use of artificial ingredients, and its rivals are fighting back. “That stuff has chlorine added to it”.

The other commercial aimed at Yoplait makes a similar claim; this time the narrator says that the potassium sorbate found in Yoplait’s product is “used to kill bugs”. But as recently as December 16, 2015, Dannon continued to assert that Chobani’s claims are false and misleading, according to Chobani. Last summer, Dannon accused Chobani of false and misleading claims related to Chobani’s statements that its yogurt contains substantially less sugar than regular yogurt. The suit says that even though USA regulators consider potassium sorbate to be a safe food ingredient, Chobani ads “convey that, because Yoplait Greek 100 is laced with a pesticide, it is so risky and unfit to eat that consumers should discard it as garbage”. “This campaign is fundamentally about choice-the choice between natural ingredients versus artificial ingredients”, said Peter McGuinness, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, Chobani. The letter “demanded that Chobani immediately discontinue the Simply 100 campaign”, Chobani says. “Like many reduced-calorie foods, Light & Fit Greek nonfat yogurt contains sucralose, an FDA-approved ingredient that has been safely and widely used as a sweetener in foods for more than 15 years”. Perhaps not. On YouTube, a few commenters called out Chobani’s commercial as “fear mongering at its finest” and said that potassium sorbate, the ingredient that Chobani deems dangerous, is “safe for contact and consumption” because it prevents foods from spoiling.

Yoplait was not thrilled, and is now suing Chobani in in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, alleging false advertising, the Star Tribune reports.

Chobani on Monday criticized both General Mills and Dannon, the Star Tribune reported.

“For the most part, when in doubt choose the product with the fewest ingredients and the ones that are closest to their most natural form”, she said.

In its lawsuit, General Mills wants Chobani to stop running the ad and pay damages.